Interfering device for horses



(No Model.)

M. HAUGHEY. INTERFBRING DEVICE FOR HORSES.

N0. 555,041. Patented Feb. 18, 1896.

U H ED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

MICHAEL HAUGHEY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

INTERFERING DEVICE FOR HORSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 555,041, dated February18, 1896.

Application filed August 12, 1895. Serial No. 558,997. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MIcHAEL HAUGHEY, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, haveinvented a new and useful improvement in horse-boots for use in theprevention and cure of the habit or defect in horses commonly known asinterfering, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in interfering horse-boots, inwhich a leg-strap is employed that has as an appendage a device adaptedto impinge or play upon the leg of a horse to which it is attached andthe opposite leg, and thereby cause the animal to travel Wider, or withhis legs distended farther apart, than it would were it not equippedwith sucha device; and the objects of my improvement are, first, tolimit the forward and backward motion of the pendant, so that its actionis practically restricted to a free upward and downward movement;second, to provide suspension and adj ustability of the pendant partseparate from the annular leg-strap, retaining relation therewith;third, to provide a shield or fender for the swell of the ankle, orpastern joint, which acts as a combined protector and as a means ofadjusting the pendant in the desired position on the horses leg andmaintaining it there. I attain these objects by the device illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective viewof my improved interfering horse-boot; Fig. 2, a sectional detail viewshowing mode of buckling the leg-strap and the accompanying pendant andadjusting-strap in one buckle; Fig. 3, a similar view showing thefastening of the two straps and the buckle, and Fig. 4 a similar viewshowing the inside of locking and adjusting shield for the pendant andits strap.

Similar letters and figures refer to similar parts throughout thedrawings.

In the drawings, A represents the leg-strap B, the adjustable pendantstrap; 0, the buckle fastened to one end of the leg-strap A by the riveta, which rivet is also used to attach the pendant-strap B to theleg-strap A and buckle at one end.

D is an adjustable pad that is provided with the loop 01 inclosing bothstrap ends and holding the pad D in place under the buckle.

d d are two adjustable loops, whereby the strap B is adjusted on theleg-strap A, thus raising or lowering the pendant as the loops are movedto or from the buckle.

F is a leather shield provided with four mortises or slits f f f f setdiagonally of cross-lines drawn through its center, which receive andhold crosswise the strap B below the leg-strap A, as shown in Figs. 1and 2, and slides up and down, thereby contributing to the adjustment ofthe pendant, while its office as a shield or fender on different horsesis maintained.

E is a pendant or striker comprising one or more balls of rubber, wood,or other suitable material having an open center, whereby it is strungon the strap B and is held in place below the fender F by the strap Band the washers e 6, these latter being provided with a small roundhole, through which the strap B is passed and closely held, so that thependant-balls are limited in moving upon the strap which holds them.

In the construction and operation of this device an ordinary leg-strapis provided together with an auxiliary strap B, the latter being abouttwice the length of the leg-strap and somewhat narrower. The buckle isthen inserted in one end of the leg-strap, and where the end turns thestrap B is joined by the rivet a to the leg-strap and buckle. Then thepad D is put on, inclosing an end of both straps. Then one of the loopsd is reeved on both straps and the shield F is put on the pendant-strapthrough the slots f f from top to bottom, and one of the washers e isthen strung 011 the strap B, followed by the balls 6 e e and the otherwasher e. A loop of the strap 13 is then returned through the slots f fof the shield F and the other loop (1 added to join the straps A and B,and the device is ready to be used on the horses leg. This is done bypassing the same around the leg just above the pastern-j oint andbuckling the legstrap, having done which the shield and pendant areadjusted to the leg, the former coverin g the pastern-joint and thelatter just below it, adjustment being made by the loops (1 d and themoving of the strap B in the shield F, as shown, until the properplacement is had. The pendant-strap B is then buckled in the buckle andthe operation is complete. Thus arranged it is apparent that thecrossing of the strap B in the shield 1 before it is reeved through thependant E gives a resistance to any forward and backward motion of thependant While it permits of an upward and downward motion thereof.

This construction, besides accomplishing the results sought in a muchcheaper and more efficacious manner than any of the interfering-bootsheretofore used, has the merit of dispensing entirely with the chafingthat results from accumulation of dirt and sand in frictional bearing ofthe strap upon the foot of the horse.

Having thus described my invention, that which I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In an interfering-boot for horses, the combination of the leg-strapencircling the horses leg a pendant-strap of greater length than theleg-strap and attached thereto so that both straps at their free endsmay be fastened by a buckle, and adjustably connected laterally, by oneor more loops inclosing both straps; an intermediate shield to receiveand hold the pendant-strap and adapted to perpendicularly locate andhold the pendant, together with the pendant, all substantially in themanner shown and described, and for the purposes set forth.

MICHAEL IIAUGlIEY.

\Vitnesses:

E. J. OBRIEN, II. C. SHORE,

